


Hot for Teacher

by notvelma



Series: The Howard Family [4]
Category: Original Work
Genre: High School, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-02
Updated: 2013-03-02
Packaged: 2017-12-04 03:08:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/705824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notvelma/pseuds/notvelma
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In all his years of teaching, Nick's never had a student try to kiss him before, but Colton is... different. Once he's set Colton straight (so to speak), the teen ends up on a journey to find himself. Actually, Colton just really wants to get laid. That's about it. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>This is NOT a teacher/student story. Colton's crush on Nick is unrequited and he never has sex with the teacher so I just wanted to make that clear.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hot for Teacher

**Author's Note:**

> Howard Family 'bonus' story.

**[Part One: Nick]**  
  
 _Wednesday, September 5_

"That was a great practice, guys!" said Nick Howard as he made his way through the locker room full of sweaty high school football players. "Shower up and I'll see you all tomorrow!" After exchanging high fives with a couple of the guys on his way through the locker room, Nick went all the way back to his office down at the end and shut the door behind him. He had some science tests to grade, but was still responsible for being in the locker room until all of the players went home, just in case he was needed. 

It was quite some time later when the knock came at the door, and when Nick looked up, he could see through the glass that it was one of his wide receivers, Colton Knox, standing nervously by the door in his street clothes. The rest of the locker room looked to have been cleared out, but Nick wasn't surprised. The boys were usually pretty quick to change and get out; they were young and they had better things to do than hang around the locker room after practice was over. 

Waving Colton in, Nick put the papers away so that he could focus his full attention on the student. He looked like he had something big on his mind and Nick wanted to help. Part of his job as their coach and teacher was to be there for the kids whenever they needed him. 

Colton entered the office and closed the door. He shoved his hands into the pocket of his hooded sweatshirt as his eyes darted around the room; he was very obviously trying not to look at Nick. "Coach?" he said, with none of his usual pep; instead, he sounded upset and worried. "Can I talk to you about something kinda personal?" 

In the twelve years that he had been teaching – during nine of which he'd also been the football coach – Nick could not count how many times a kid had come to him like this. They would be anxious, worried and unsure, with a problem they couldn't handle on their own. Nick had helped with questions about sex, love, college, drugs, problems with parents, depression... he'd just about seen it all. 

Colton was one of the best players on the team, though, and he was a good kid. Nick hoped that he would be able to help the boy out with whatever problem he had. 

"Of course you can," said Nick brightly. "Have a seat and tell me what's on your mind!" He smiled in an attempt to relax Colton. 

The teen's cheeks flushed as he averted his eyes again before sitting in the chair across from the desk. He took his hands from his pocket and ran one through his short hair, exhaling loudly as he did so. "I guess I don't know where to start," he said quietly. "This is hard 'cause I ain't told anybody else yet."

Though Nick's first instinct was to correct the boy's use of the word 'ain't', he ignored that and instead said, "Just start with the most important part. Whatever it is, Colt, I've probably heard it a dozen times. Not much shocks this old man anymore," he joked.

"You're not old," said Colton, finally looking up at Nick. His eyes were wide, filled with something that Nick couldn't name. "I mean, you're younger than my dad, anyway," he said, looking a little flustered as his face turned red again. He looked down at his lap and said quietly, "Okay I guess I should just say it before I lose my nerve." He took a deep breath. "I think I might be gay." The last part came out in a rush, but the words were unmistakable.

For a moment, Nick could not think of a single thing to say to that. It wasn't the first time he'd had a student come to him about their sexuality, but he'd never honestly expected a kid like Colton to be gay. It was a bit of a shock, kind of like it had been finding out that his brother Hank was gay. Realizing that he was stereotyping, Nick cleared his throat, pushing those thoughts away. "Well, if you are gay, there's certainly nothing wrong with that," he said carefully. "Is there any reason you're starting to feel this way now? Is there somebody you have feelings for?" he asked, and then felt like kicking himself for how stupid that sounded. "I'm here to listen," he added. "I don't judge." 

As Colton struggled to find the right words, Nick waited patiently, watching Colton and trying to figure out what he could do to help this kid. At eighteen years old, Colton was a senior and he'd always been one of Nick's favorite players on the team. He had focus and commitment and he clearly loved the game. Everyone on the team loved him, too, and Nick didn't really think any of them would react too badly if Colton came out to them. Then again, how could he really be sure? Some of Hank's high school friends had been pretty shitty to him after he'd come out as gay. Nick sighed at the memory.

But Colton must have thought the sigh was directed at him, because he abruptly pushed his chair back and stood up, his cheeks flushed. "I'm sorry, Coach. I shouldn't have come here to bug you with this stuff." He turned toward the door.

Before the kid could leave, though, Nick was up out of his seat as well. "Colton, wait," he said, coming around the desk to put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "I want you to feel like you can talk to me about this. I want to help you," he insisted gently. 

The way Colton looked at him was heartbreaking; just seeing the pain in his eyes made Nick wish he could say or do something to make everything okay. He hated to see any of his kids hurting like this, and for Colton, Nick was sure this was something hard for him to go through. Nick squeezed the boy's shoulder. "It'll be okay, Colt. You're a good kid, whether you're gay or straight or whatever." Then Nick gave in to his fatherly instinct and hugged Colton.

Almost immediately, Colton relaxed into the hug, pressing his face into Nick's shoulder. "I'm sorry, coach," he said again. "I didn't know who else to talk to about this and you're the only person I really trust. You won't tell anybody, will you?" He pulled away to look Nick in the eye. "I don't want anybody else to know yet."

"I promise you, Colton, that I'll keep this just between us," Nick said. "It's nobody's business but yours. Besides, what happens in the Coach's office stays here, right?" 

The kiss caught Nick completely by surprise. One minute, Colton was just standing there watching him, and in the next he had braced his hands on Nick's shoulders and was leaning up to kiss him on the mouth. When Nick became aware of what had happened, he gently pushed Colton away. Holy shit, he thought. That was something that he hadn't been expecting at all. 

Letting out a breath slowly, Nick said, "I'm flattered, Colt, but aside from the fact that I'm your teacher and I'm twice your age, I'm also married. To a woman. A woman who is also your algebra teacher, remember?" _That's it, Nick, mention your wife._

"Fuck," said Colton, shaking his head. "I shouldn't... I mean I'm sorry, Coach. That was a stupid thing to do. I'm so sorry," he whispered. His hands were trembling. 

With a sigh, Nick tried to collect his thoughts. "I don't know if I'm really the best person to talk with about this, anyway," he said gently. "I know you trust me as your coach, and I want to help you as best I can. But if you need to talk to somebody about being gay, well I don't really have any experience in that area, you know?" He felt bad about it, but what kind of advice could he offer when he'd never been in that situation? Nick had never been attracted to a man before. 

Colton nodded, looking uncomfortable. "Sorry, Coach. I didn't know who else I could talk to, and I just – I know I probably shouldn't have done that to you," he said quietly, looking up at Nick with a wide-eyed, innocent gaze. "I guess I just wasn't thinking." 

"Don't say that," said Nick. "I'm glad that you came to me, Colton. It shows that you trusted me enough with this information, and I don't want to betray that trust. Look, ah, I don't know if you've ever met my younger brother, Hank?" he asked.

Shaking his head, Colton said, "I didn't know you had any brothers, Coach."

Nick laughed. "Oh yes. I'm the oldest of four. I have two brothers and one sister. Hank, the brother I'm talking about, is a police officer, and he used to be a football player like you are. And he's gay," he said. 

"Oh," said Colton. He looked a little surprised at that. "Really?" 

"Yeah. Look, ah, I think if I can talk to Hank, he'd be willing to talk to you and maybe answer some questions that you might have," Nick suggested. "Is that all right with you?" he asked. 

The teen seemed to consider this, and then he nodded. "I think that sounds all right," he said. "Thank you, Coach." He smiled, looking a lot more relaxed than he had just a moment ago. 

Nick patted him on the shoulder again, and then he helped Colton out of the room, making sure the kid was okay before he shut the office door again. 

Well, that had certainly been an interesting conversation.

* * *

**[Part Two: Colton]**

I left Coach's office and then the locker room in kind of a hurry, mostly because I felt so fucking stupid for trying to kiss him. Really, Colton? Did you honestly think that would end well for you? The thing was that I kind of _did_ think – or hope, anyway – that maybe there would be a porno-style ending to that scenario, like that he'd kiss me back and then he'd bend me over the desk and fuck me. I guess looking back, it was a really dumb idea, but I wasn't thinking clearly at the time. 

I never wanted another guy before I wanted Coach Howard, but he was handsome enough to make anybody want to drop their pants. I mean, he was big – something like six foot three – and he was broad, too, with muscular arms and a burly chest. He had nice thick hair and blue eyes and a handsome face and he was just so fucking _nice_ to everybody. I guess that was kind of why I had a crush on him and why I'd tried to kiss him and why I had wet dreams about him...

I knew I'd fucked up, but I had to push the thoughts away for not. I still had homework and shit to get done, so I headed back out of the building and around back to the student parking lot.

There were only a couple vehicles left when I got there – one of them of course being my truck, the black Dodge Ram that my dad bought me for my birthday last year. Parked two spots over was another black Dodge Ram, exact same model and year as my truck. Only difference was that the bottom half of that truck was covered in dirt and mud. Mine, though, was spotless. Unlike some people, I took pride in keeping my truck clean. 

As I approached my truck, I saw two guys sitting on the tail gate of the other one. One of the guys I knew was Jesse Winchester, a skinny blond junior who always wore dirty jeans and the same Yankee ball cap like it was his uniform; the other guy was Angus Butler, the guy who owned the truck. Angus was a redhead – he had that kinda orangey-copper hair that looked almost unreal – and he was real husky, one of those guys that was bigger than most of the teachers, even. He was eighteen, same as me, but unlike me, Angus could pass for twenty-five, easy. Both Angus and Jesse were pretty hardcore rednecks, too, but that wasn't strange because we lived in kind of a rural area with a lot of rednecks.

"Hey, Knox!" called Jesse, waving at me like we were friends or something, which we definitely weren't. "C'mere a second!"

All I really wanted to do was go home and rub one out; even though the kiss with Coach Howard had been kind of short, it had kind of gotten me going. Still, I didn't want to be an asshole and just ignore somebody that was talking to me, so I walked over. "What's up?" I asked. Like I said, we weren't really friends, so I didn't really even know what to say to them. 

"So Colton, are you gonna make sure those fags on the football team actually win us a couple games this year?" Jesse asked.

Angus smacked him in the arm. "Hey, asshole, what'd I tell you about that 'fag' shit, huh?" he said sharply. "Use another word." 

I'd cringed a little at Jesse's use of _that_ word, so I was kinda glad that Angus called him on it. To Jesse, I said, "Gonna do what I can. 'Course we don't have a lot to work with this year." Watching some of the newer players at practice was almost painful with how bad they were. I glanced at Angus. "We could use more big guys like you. How come you don't play?" I didn't know why I was bringing it up; it wasn't like Angus could join the team _now_. 

Laughing, Jesse nudged his friend. "What do you think, Bear? Does a locker room full of sweaty naked guys turn you on?" he teased. 

"Shut up, fuck face," muttered Angus. Then he looked at me and Jesus were his eyes dark. "Just 'cause I'm big doesn't mean I'm any good. Besides, I think about half the football team hates me anyway." He shrugged and looked away. 

Well, I guess he had that part right. A lot of the football guys hated the rednecks and most of 'em hated Angus especially because he and Charlie Dubie got in a fight a week before the first game of the season last year. And, well let's just say that Charlie didn't end up too well after that, and since he was the only good linebacker we had and he couldn't play, we ended up losing the game. Most of the other players blamed Angus for that, even though Charlie had started the fight by making stupid remarks about Angus's mama. In my opinion, Charlie got what he damn well deserved.

Realizing that the conversation with Angus and Jesse was basically over, I dug out my keys and turned away from them back to my truck. I pressed the unlock button and the truck chirped. 

"Hey Colton," said Jesse before I could open up the driver's side door. I turned back around again, trying not to sigh too loudly. "So are you going to the homecoming dance this year?"

The question itself didn't confuse me, but the fact that Jesse was the one asking me did. "I dunno yet. I guess I probably will, but it ain't something I really thought about yet. Why the hell do you care?" 

Shrugging, Jesse got a sly grin on his face. He glanced over at Angus again, but the other guy didn't seem to notice. "Just curious, is all. Forget I asked and just run along home now, okay?" 

Deciding that running on home was a real good idea after that doozy of a conversation, I turned back to my truck and climbed inside, ignoring the two of them jackasses still sitting on the tail gate like they had nothing better to do. 

When I got home, I had to make myself dinner since Dad was gone. He was working nights at the prison for the rest of the month, so I'd barely see him. I didn't mind so much, 'cause at least he wasn't there to nag me about my homework or eating in front of the TV or whatever. So I had my dinner – which was just a box of macaroni and cheese – and then I did the homework that I hadn't done in Study Hall, and by the time I got everything done, it was like ten thirty at night. 

And I should have gone to bed, because I had to be up at five to get ready for school the next day, but instead I went online and spent like twenty minutes looking at the pictures of Coach Howard on the school's website. There was one of him and his wife sitting together at one of the awards banquets. Mrs. Howard was like one of those sexy librarian types, with real pretty red hair and a nice body, but she really didn't do anything for me. I guess that only proved that I really wasn't into girls, because if even somebody as pretty as Mrs. Howard didn't turn me on, then no woman would. 

For a moment, I became almost blindingly angry, absolutely certain that if Mrs. Howard hadn't existed, Coach would've fucked me there in his office after the kiss. 

Just then, the house phone rang, startling me out of my delusions. I picked it up and, thinking it was Dad, answered with, "I was just getting ready for bed, I swear." Fuck, it was almost eleven and Dad was going to be pissed at me for still being up. 

"Oh shit, I didn't mean to wake you," said an unfamiliar voice on the other end of the line. "I just got off shift and I forgot normal people aren't awake at this hour. Shit, I'm sorry! I should've looked at the clock before I called, huh?" 

"Who is this?" I asked, feeling suspicious and a bit worried. Enough weird things had happened today and I really didn't need another one. 

There was a huff from the other line, and then the voice said, "Oh, sorry again. Jesus, this is Hank Howard. I'm Nick Howard's brother. He gave me your number and said you might want to talk?" 

Things were starting to click into place now. "Oh, uh hi," I said. "And don't worry. You didn't wake me." I really didn't know what to say, though. Coach had told me to talk to his brother because of me thinking I was gay, but I didn't even know where to start with this conversation. 

"So, I don't want to keep you up too long since you have school in the morning, but do you think we could meet somewhere later in the week so we can talk and you can ask me whatever questions you have?" he suggested.

Running my hand through my hair, I thought about the rest of the week. There was football practice after school on Thursday, a game on Friday, and then the weekend, during which I'd be trying to get all my homework done, and oh yeah, how the fuck was I going to explain to my dad that I was going to meet an older man to ask him questions about being gay? "I don't know if this week works for me," I said. "I mean, there's football and everything, and we have a game on Friday."

"Okay," said Hank. "Well, how about Monday? I've got some time off coming up, so whatever works for you. I mean, if you're still interested in talking with me. I know it's probably a bit strange for you, what with me being so much older than you and everything." 

I was reminded of the way Coach had called himself old, but he was still like ten years younger than my dad. I didn't know why they thought they were old. "Monday's cool," I said. "We don't have practice that day, so yeah, after school I guess." 

"Great!" said Hank. "Let me give you my cell number, and you can text me when you're ready to meet, okay?" he suggested. 

I wrote his number down on the notepad by the computer. "Thanks for doing this," I told him. 

"No problem!" he said, sounding way too chipper. "I'll see you Monday."

After we hung up, I turned off the computer and folded up the piece of paper to keep for Monday. Then I dragged my ass up the stairs and dropped myself into bed. I had a lot to think about and I would need all the sleep I could get.

* * *

_Monday, September 10_

Coach Howard's cop brother looked a lot like Coach, with the same dark hair and the same huge, muscular body and the same really gorgeous blue eyes. I really wanted to jump him, but we were in the middle of a diner with a bunch of families and kids around and also I didn't think that a guy his age would go for a kid my age, even if it was just sex.

"So," said Hank, swirling his French fry in the puddle of ketchup on his plate. "Nick tells me the two of you had a very interesting conversation last week." The corners of his mouth went up just slightly, like he was trying really hard not to laugh about it.

It took me a minute to remember that Nick was Coach Howard's actual name, but when I did, I said, "It's not like I meant to kiss him." I'd been thinking about it ever since it had happened, thinking about the way it felt to just have my lips touching somebody else's for however brief a moment it had been. About the way he'd touched my shoulders. About the way Coach had reminded me about his wife. 

"It's no big deal," said Hank. "I think Nick was more amused than anything else. And probably a little flattered. He thinks he's an old fogey just 'cause he's nearing forty." He shrugged. 

I didn't know what else to say to that, so I switched the subject. "He said you played football in high school." I bet he had been a great player; he looked really strong. 

Hank nodded. "Sure did! I was a fullback, and I probably could've played in college, but I decided to focus on academics instead so I could get onto the police force. What position are you?" 

"Wide receiver. I'm one of the smaller guys on the team, which sucks. I won't be playing in college, either," I told him. I might have been all right at the high school level, but college was a whole different story. I wasn't even really good enough to get a scholarship. 

I picked at the burger on my plate, too nervous to eat. I had questions in my mind, but I couldn't figure out how to ask them. 

Hank was watching me like he could tell what was going on in my head. "So what was making you think you might be gay?" he asked in a low voice, quiet enough that the people at the tables near ours probably couldn't overhear.

Nevertheless, I felt my cheeks heat up, worried that somebody I knew would see me here with him, would figure out what we were talking about and spread it all over the school, and then they wouldn't let me in the locker room after practice and I'd have to quit the team and –

I let out a sigh. "Mostly because I was having ah..." and how did I word this delicately? I started over. "I guess I was just thinking about guys instead of girls, and I mean when you're in a locker room and you start noticing things, and instead of comparing, it's just like 'wow, I really want to run my hands all over that'." I shrugged. I wasn't going to tell him about the dreams I had about Coach; that would be fucking weird considering that he was Coach's brother.

"I know how that is," said Hank with a laugh. "Oh Jesus, yeah. Hard not to notice when they're changing in front of you all the time, right? My first sort-of boyfriend was one of the other football players," he told me.

My eyes went wide. "Really?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Of course I was sixteen, so I didn't really know what I was doing, but he was really hot and I couldn't help myself. He turned out to be kind of a jerk, but first loves sometimes end up that way." He shrugged, and then picked up his burger and took a bite. 

"Sixteen?" Jesus, I was way behind. I hadn't done anything with anybody, except for making out with Bethany Ross in eighth grade during "Seven Minutes in Heaven." That had been a less-than-thrilling experience, yet another hint toward the fact that I wasn't into girls. 

After finishing the bite of food, Hank took a drink of his soda and then said, "Yeah, but for me, there was never any question. I knew I was gay really early on. It was easy for me to find other guys at the school that were gay." Then he shook his head. "I should amend that. It wasn't easy, because there weren't a lot of us, but there were ways we had of finding each other, you know?" 

No, I didn't know. "You could just tell?" I asked. How did that even work? I couldn't think of anybody at school that I could imagine being gay, or anybody that I would even think about dating. 

"Yeah," he said. "But it's not the same for everybody. I just want you to know, Colton, that you're not alone. Even though you might think you're the only gay kid in the entire school, statistics suggest that there are definitely a lot more. And chances are good that it would turn out to be somebody that you wouldn't expect. So definitely keep your options open, Colton, okay?" He gave me a hopeful smile, like maybe he could see into the future and he knew I'd be happy. 

I wanted him to be right. I want so badly to believe that I couldn't be the only guy in the school like this. I wanted to believe that I could actually _date_ and that maybe I would actually get laid before I graduated from high school. I could only hope.

* * *

_Wednesday, September 12_

A lot of times, when we had football practice outside, the girlfriends of some of the players would come and watch us. Sometimes guys would watch, too – usually they would be friends of the players, or the guys who were fans of the game but didn't play for whatever reason, or sometimes just people who had nothing better to do after school so they came to watch football practice.

Still, seeing Jesse Winchester and Angus Butler sitting up in the bleachers at Wednesday's practice was a little strange for me. Neither of them had ever come to watch our practices before. I had sort of figured Jesse was a pretty big football fan from the conversation we'd had last week, but I didn't think that Angus was really into it. 

When he realized that I'd seen them, Jesse waved at me and then nudged Angus. The big redhead just kind of gave me a nod of acknowledgment, though he was nowhere near as enthusiastic as Jesse. Probably his friend had dragged him there against his will, and now Angus was bored. 

"The fuck is up with that?" asked Charlie, coming up behind me. "Are you friends with those assholes?" he accused, like it was a fate worse than death. 

As I turned away from the stands, I gave Charlie my best 'are you fucking serious' look. "Does it really fucking matter?" I asked. "Don't hate on Angus just because you were stupid enough to piss him off," I said. I probably could have come up with a better response to him, but Charlie really wasn't worth the effort on my part. 

He just huffed at me, and we went to join the rest of the players in the huddle. 

Coach Howard was talking about some new plays that he wanted to work on, and I was doing my best to pay attention without staring at him too hard and thinking about what had happened last week in his office. I didn't want him to think that I was still obsessing over him, even though I sort of was. I wanted Coach to know that I was still the same player I was last week even before that whole debacle, and I wanted him to know that I wouldn't let that get in the way of playing the game. 

When I heard him say my name, I perked up and tuned back in to the speech. 

"You all should have the same work ethic and drive that Colton does," Coach was saying, and he put his hand on my shoulder. Funny how that didn't make my stomach flutter like it usually did. "This young man clearly puts his effort in, and I wish the rest of you would have the same attitude toward the game that he does. Half of you guys are only here because you want the cred that comes with the uniform. That's not a valid reason to be here, okay? Football is about the game, it's about being part of the team. It's not about looking cool so the girls will go out with you." 

Some of the guys laughed, but the funny part to me was that a couple of the guys who were laughing at Coach's "joke" were the same guys that flashed their uniform like it was a status symbol, who only did things because they thought it would get the girls to drop their panties. I hated those kinds of players, though. I wanted my teammates to be people who loved the game for what it was and wanted to do well for the sake of the team.

Once Coach was done with his little speech, though, we started with the drills. It was easy to block out everything when I had something to focus on. I could forget about Coach, about all the conflicting feelings inside my head. Everything went away and it was just me and the other players.

During a break in practice when I went to get myself a drink of water, I glanced up to where Jesse and Angus were sitting, just to see if they were still there. They were, and Jesse waved at me again. 

I wanted to go up there and ask why the fuck he'd come to watch me practice. Was he trying to be friends with me now? I couldn't really understand Jesse's actions and I wasn't sure that I wanted to. Instead of any of that, though, I just sorta waved back. 

Even from a distance, I could picture Angus's dark eyes staring at me so intensely, like the same way they were the first time we'd talked out in the parking lot. He was watching me, but it was too far away to see the expression on his face; all I could really tell was that he was looking my way. I wanted to know what it was he was thinking about. I smiled at him and waved, too, just for good measure. 

When he waggled his fingers at me in return – not the broad, excited wave that Jesse had, but something cuter and more subdued – I felt something twist up inside of me. That was the same feeling I usually got when I thought about Coach, wasn't it? 

Suddenly I felt my breath catch in my throat and my whole body heat up as I realized what that could mean. Jesus Christ, was I getting a crush on Angus? Fuck.

"Hey, Colton, you gonna come back and join the rest of us or what?" called Coach. 

I turned away from Angus and back to the field where Coach was looking at me, eyebrows raised and a grin on his face. Any other day that would've gotten me going, but now – it didn't do anything for me. What the fuck was going on? Pushing those thoughts aside, I jogged back to the huddle. There was no time to be thinking about that shit right now.

* 

When practice was over, Coach sent us all off to the locker rooms. I was getting ready to head back in with the rest of the team when I heard Jesse calling my name.

"Hey, Knox!" 

Rolling my eyes, I stopped in my tracks, turning around to see Jesse and Angus walking down the bleachers toward me. Jesse was like a deer leaping down the steps and Angus was more like a bear with the way he lumbered; they made an interesting combination. 

My heart pounded faster as I noticed Angus's tight-fitting black t-shirt; for a guy who didn't like football, he seemed pretty muscular. I wondered what his body looked like underneath that shirt, whether he had chest hair or not, how well defined his pecs were – god, what was wrong with me? 

"What do you want, Jesse?" I asked as they approached. "Is this going to be another weird conversation like we had last week?" I really didn't want to go through that again. It was confusing as hell just trying to figure out where it was the Jesse was coming from or what he wanted from me.

First thing he did was glance up at Angus, and then Jesse fixed his gaze toward me. "We just wanted to come see you at work," said the blond with a big grin. 

"You're a lot smaller than the other guys," said Angus. He had the hint of a smile on his face, and that was sexier than I ever thought it could be. "I thought you were gonna get trampled." 

"Yeah, well not everybody can be big and buff like you," I answered breezily, a smile playing on my face as well. "Besides, I don't have to be big to do my job right," I pointed out. 

Neither of them responded to that, and there was an awkward silence. I wanted to go back to the locker room and change, but I didn't know if Jesse was done with being weird or not. "Look, if you got something to say, just say it, okay? I got other things to be doing right now." I didn't want to be rude to them, but Jesus Christ this was a little ridiculous.

"Ain't no reason to be so hostile," said Jesse, holding his hands up in defense. "Maybe we just wanted to talk, you ever think of that?" Then he relaxed a little, smiling. "So, you thought anymore about the homecoming dance?" he asked, apparently forgetting that he'd told me to forget that he'd asked that question in the first place. "Angus and me were thinking that you should Homecoming King," he added.

I stared at him. "What the hell are you smoking?" That was the only explanation for his weird questions and sudden interest in me. And me being Homecoming King? No fucking way. 

Angus kind of chuckled at that, low in his throat. I shouldn't have found that sexy, but I did. I could feel my face getting hot with the way he was looking at me, too, but I couldn't help it. He probably noticed; how could he not? I was being so fucking obviously about it. 

"Don't mind him," said Angus, patting Jesse on the shoulder. "He's just a little special." He winked at me like we were sharing a joke. 

Suddenly I was flustered, what with the winking and the laugh and his fucking eyes looking at me the way they were. "Yeah, I guessed that," I managed to say. My heart was pounding like a drum in my chest. Jesus, what the fuck was wrong with me?

"You did real good out there," Angus told me, his eyes still focused on mine. "You're a real good player, I mean." He seemed like he was being sincere about it, too, which was nice. 

"Thanks." I didn't know what the hell he could have seen today that would make him think I was any good. Drills didn't mean shit, not when it came to game time, anyway. "We have a home game on Friday. You guys should come," I said. I was looking at Angus when I said it, 'cause I didn't really give two shits about whether Jesse showed up or not. "Game's way better to watch than practice," I added.

Jesse looked ready to make a smart remark, but he shut up real quick when Angus glared at him. Instead, he settled with, "We'll be there." 

It was stupid how much I suddenly cared about Angus showing up, but I really wanted him to see me in my element, doing the one thing that I felt like I was born to do. There were other things I wanted from him, too, but I was afraid to acknowledge them. "I'll see you guys later," I said, when it looked like nobody else was going to add anything. 

"See you later!" said Jesse brightly. 

As I walked back into the locker room, I tried to convince myself that I was not developing feelings for Angus Butler. Deep down, though, I knew there was no denying that there was something there. Only thing I could hope for was that maybe Angus felt the same way.

* * *

_Monday, September 17_

When I left football practice on Monday, I was the last of the players out of the locker room, mostly because I waited to take my shower 'til everybody else was done. Even though none of them knew about me yet, I was still afraid that they would find out and make a big fuss or freak out or something. I wasn't ready to risk exposing myself. 

I hadn't even gotten fully out the back doors of the school when I spotted Angus standing off to the side with his hands in the pockets of his jeans like he was waiting for something. He looked up when the door opened, and when he saw that it was me coming out, he smiled, looking relieved. "Hey Colton," he said, walking toward me. It was me he was waiting for?

Looking around, I didn't see Jesse anywhere, which was a relief. "Sup?" I nodded at him. I wondered if we were friends now or what. 

Angus rubbed the back of his neck and I couldn't stop myself from watching the muscles in his arms. Oh Jesus. "So, my truck is kind of in the shop right now, 'cause of some bullshit problem with the transmission," he began, and I had an idea of what was coming next. "Jesse was supposed to give me a ride home today, but he was an asshole and ditched me here. I was hoping that maybe you'd be able to drive me home?" he asked, hopeful.

Despite having no idea where Angus lived, I said yes, mostly because it was Angus and not Jesse. The grateful smile I got was well worth it. Angus followed me back to my truck in the student parking lot. 

"I live up on Blue Mountain Road," said Angus as he climbed into the passenger side and shut the door. "Do you know where that is?"

"Yeah." I wouldn't have expected Angus to live in a place like that, though. Blue Mountain Road was the richer part of town, where most of the private school kids lived. It was kind of surprising to know that was where a guy like Angus came from. 

Glancing over at me, Angus said, "Yeah, I know what you're thinking. What's a hick like me doing living way up with all those rich folk, right?" He spoke with an exaggerated drawl, to make himself sound even more like a hick, I guess. "Well, when my big brother Sean got messed up with the wrong people and ended up getting arrested for drugs, my parents got worried that something would happen to me, so they sent me off to live with my aunt and uncle in the hopes that I'd turn out to be a good boy, all polite and refined and shit." He grinned at me. "You think it's working?" 

There was a whole truck load of back story there that I really didn't want to unpack. "I don't know as I'd call you refined," I told him.

He laughed. "Yeah, maybe not." 

I shifted the truck out of park and we headed out. I wanted to say something else interesting to him, but of course my mind went completely blank.

It occurred to me as I glanced over at him in the passenger seat, noticing his muscles nearly bursting out of the sleeves of his t-shirt, that Angus was a pretty big guy. I mean he wasn't as big as Coach Howard, but he was big and broad and I wondered how it would feel if he pushed me up against the wall and fucked me. He'd be strong enough to hold me without any trouble, even if I struggled, which I knew I wouldn't; I wanted him too much for that. 

My cock was starting to get hard just thinking about it, and I was really glad that I wearing baggy jeans. My whole body was hot at the thought of us doing anything together. 

As we pulled out of the parking lot, I was acutely aware of Angus in the seat next to me. It was hard not to be; he took up so much fucking space because he was so large. There was the added bonus that he smelled really good, too. It wasn't like he was wearing cologne or anything, but there was a hint of sweat mixed in with something like - motor oil, maybe? 

"Are you taking Auto Shop?" I asked finally. He didn't have any grease stains on his hands or clothes, but the scent made me wonder. 

He kinda chuckled, and the effect that that sound had on me was obscene. "It's the smell, isn't it? No matter how many times you wash it, it never really goes away." I could feel him looking at me, but I kept my eyes focused on the road. "No, I'm not taking any Shop classes, but I do all the maintenance on my own truck. Actually, I was trying to fix it this weekend, but it turned out to be more than I could handle, which is why it's in the shop." He paused, and then added in a low, husky voice, "I'm real good with my hands." 

My body went hot, thinking of all the things he could do to me with his hands – those big, capable hands. Jesus Christ! All I said out loud was, "Oh, yeah?" 

A silence fell between us after that, and Jesus was it awkward, mostly because my mind was stuck on dirty thoughts, and I was pretty sure Angus could tell. 

Finally, I said, "So what's up with Jesse, anyway? Has he always been that nosy?" It wasn't that I'd never interacted with Jesse before – even with him being a grade younger, we'd still had classes together and our school wasn't so big that I hadn't seen him around. Even so, I'd talked to him more in the past two weeks than I had in all three years before that. I really didn't know what Jesse and Angus, by extension, had taken a sudden interest in me.

"He just likes to meddle," said Angus. "He can be a pain in the ass, but he's a good friend. Best friend I have." 

God, and wasn't that an infuriating answer? Meddle in what? What did that even mean? "Well, I agree with the pain in the ass part," I said. 

That earned me a laugh from Angus. "I'm sorry that he's been so rude to you. I'll tell him to cool it off, but I don't know if it'll do any good. He doesn't listen to me as often as he should." He glanced over at me. "This is probably a bad time, but can I ask you kind of a personal question?"

A feeling in my gut told me that this is what it had all been leading up to. All that shit with Jesse's nosy questions had just been pretext and here was the big bomb being dropped. I already knew what he was going to ask, but I was still nervous. "Go ahead." 

We were at a stop light, which made the pause even more ominous. "Are you gay, Colton?" Angus asked. He sounded so calm despite that what he was asking me was such a huge thing for me. 

The light turned green just then, so I focused on driving for a minute while I tried to figure out how to go about this. I'd already told Coach, so it should have been easier to tell Angus, especially with him just outright asking me like that. I realized that the only way I could do this was to be honest. Besides, I trusted Angus. "Yeah, I think I might be."

"You're not sure yet?" he asked, and I could tell by his tone that he was curious, but otherwise seemed to be okay with it – at least, he wasn't freaking out at me. 

Now I was starting to get embarrassed. Gay was one thing, but being a virgin was a whole different story. "I mean, I know what I like, but I only ever kissed one guy and that didn't turn out so well," I admitted. I sure as hell wasn't gonna tell Angus just who I'd kissed; I planned on keeping that information from as many people as I could. Coach and his brother knowing about that stupid moment were already too many people for me.

"You don't have to do anything with anybody to know you're gay," Angus said finally. "I knew I was gay when I was thirteen because I had way more fantasies about Tim McGraw than other guys my age seemed to have. And I mean, like all this stuff about wanting to be with guys just kept coming up and it was kind of hard to ignore. No girl ever turned me on, so I couldn't really deny it." That was the most I think I ever heard him say at once, and it was kind of surprising. 

At this point, we'd reached Blue Mountain Road, and Angus pointed out which house was his, so I pulled up in the driveway, trying not to gape at how nice the house looked. Compared to this, Dad and I lived in a shit hole. "You have a real nice house," I said, which felt stupid after Angus's confession but I really didn't know what else to say to him. 

He just kind of grunted in response but didn't say anything else. I would bet that he grunted during sex, too. God. I wanted to say something to him – something flirty, that would get him to want to fuck me, but nothing came to mind. After my failed attempt with Coach, I was still a little wary, even if Angus had basically just laid all his cards out on the table for me.

Though we were parked in the driveway now, Angus didn't get out of the truck right away, so I turned it off and kind of looked over at him to see what the hold-up was. He was looking at me kind of funny. "You wanna maybe come inside for a little bit? My aunt and uncle ain't home," he added.

I knew what that meant, and all of a sudden that look he was giving me was starting to make sense, too. "Well, all right," I said. "I mean, for a little bit." I didn't want to seem too eager, but fuck this was exactly what I wanted and now I was getting it? 

I followed him into the house – still trying to act casual even though everything in the house was ten times fancier than anything Dad and I had. We went into the kitchen, which was right near the front of the house. Angus went straight for the fridge. "Do you want anything to drink?" he asked. "There's beer or soda, if you want," he offered, looking over at me.

"No thanks," I said, because I wasn't really thirsty, anyway. I wanted to say something flirty, but hell if I knew how to flirt with a guy. If I was a girl I could've given him a line about how strong he was and maybe batted my eyelashes. I didn't think that would go over to well coming from me, though. Fuck, I just wanted to say something that didn't sound stupid. "I think your shirt's too tight," I blurted out, like an idiot. I wanted to bang my head against the wall for that. His shirt WAS too tight, though – either that or his muscles were just too fucking big. Maybe both. 

He shut the fridge and glanced over at me with a heated look in his eye. "You think so?" He crossed the room in two strides and then he was looming over me like a giant.

_Oh fuck_ , I though, because he was even bigger up close and I was practically rock hard and he hadn't even touched me yet. If there was any doubt about my sexuality, it was gone now. 

"Yeah, I do," I said, and while I was trying to put a lot of conviction behind my words, it didn't really come out that way. I was pretty sure he knew what was going on inside my pants, since there sure wasn't anything going on in my head right now. "You should get a shirt that fits you better."

"Or I could just take this one off," he said, and took a step back. His hands were on the hem of his shirt and he looked at me like he expected a challenge. 

Instead of arguing with him, I was the one who pushed his shirt up over his chest and he let me do all the work, lifting his hands above his head so I could get it off the rest of the way. The shirt ended up on the kitchen floor and my mouth went dry at the sight of him.

So maybe his face wasn't much to look at, but he had a real nice chest – broad and muscular, with a dusting of reddish hair. His chest hair was lighter than the hair on his head, but it was still that burnt orange color, proving that he was indeed a natural redhead. Well, I guess I wouldn't know that for sure until I got his pants off, which I hoped would be coming soon.

"Well?" he said. "Is that better?"

"When did you say your aunt and uncle were supposed to be home?" I asked, because if we didn't do something soon, I was probably going to explode. 

Angus approached me again, crowding me so that my back was pressing against the counter. "Not 'til real late. Why, you in a big hurry to leave?" I couldn't help noticing that he was avoiding contact between our lower bodies, and it was probably 'cause he was just as turned on as me but he was trying to pretend he wasn't. Like he didn't want me to know because he thought he was going to scare me off.

I hooked my fingers into the belt loops on his jeans and tugged him forward, adjusting my hips so I was pressing up against him. Something I'd seen in movies before, with the big suave guy trying to show the woman he was in control. I definitely wasn't in control here, but I didn't want Angus to think I was gonna wimp out. I didn't want to wimp out on my first real chance to kiss another guy and have it actually mean something. "Just want to make sure we got enough time for this, that's all," I told him. And like I did with Coach Howard, I found myself leaning up to kiss Angus.

Only this time it was better because Angus kissed back, and he kissed like he knew what he was doing, with his hand on the back of my head, fingers threading through my hair. And his tongue was in my mouth! First time I ever had anybody's tongue in my mouth and I couldn't believe that I'd been missing out on how it felt.

I was starting to get into the kissing when Angus pulled back to look at me. I was a little disappointed with that, but then his hands were on the buckle on my jeans and it was kind of hard to be upset when I knew what he was going to do next. 

"This okay?" he asked, fixing those eyes on me. 

Did he really think I was gonna say no to that? Words didn't come out because my brain was about twelve steps ahead, thinking about what was going to be happening after the pants were gone. I just nodded at him, unable to tear my eyes away. Was this really happening?

It seemed to take him forever to get my pants unbuttoned, but then he did and he shoved them down and his hand was on my dick and I didn't know what to do except kind of gasp and grab at his arm.

He was watching me while he touched me, kind of like he was waiting for me to say something, but how the fuck was I supposed to talk when somebody else's hand was on my dick for the first time in my life? This was like a porn movie or something except it was real life and I couldn't believe it.

Angus was still stroking my cock in his huge callused hand so I could barely focus when he said, "have you ever had your cock sucked?" When he removed his hand all of a sudden, though, I realized that he'd been speaking. 

"What?" I asked, staring at his face. 

"You ever had a blow job?"

"No, but it's not like I've ever - oh shit."

Because he didn't even let me finish talking before he was on his knees in front of me, mouth closed over my cock and he was sucking it like he'd done that before, too. For a minute I was wondering where he learned this stuff, like who else he'd sucked off, but then it felt too good and all I could focus on was threading my fingers into his hair and holding him there because fucking Christ, nothing had ever felt like this before. It was sure as hell a lot better than jacking myself off alone. 

"Wow," I said.

Angus glanced up at me and if that wasn't the hottest thing I've ever seen, I didn't know what was.

This was the moment where it occurred to me that I was not going to be able to settle for this just once. I was going to want more of everything – more of the kissing, of the dick-sucking, of me touching him and him touching me, and it didn't even have to be like us dating, but I needed this.

He took his mouth off my dick to look up at me. "Would you shut your mouth? Otherwise I'm going to stick something in there to get you to shut up." 

I hadn't realized I'd been talking out loud, but I found myself blushing when I realized what he wanted to stick in there. I'd never sucked cock before but the idea of having his in my mouth sounded really appealing. "Is that supposed to be a threat?" I said, amazed at my bravado.

Angus smirked. "Next time," he promised. "But seeing as how you ain't done this before, I think we'll stick with beginner stuff, huh?" He got to his feet, which apparently there would be no more dick-sucking, which was too bad, 'cause I was really enjoying that. He pressed up close to me again, taking my hand and guiding it over to his cock. "You probably have a pretty good idea how to do this at least, right?" he asked.

Well, okay so his cock was a little bigger than mine, but yeah I was pretty sure I could figure out how to jerk him off. I did it with myself enough times. I started off slow to get the feel of it, of how strange it was to be touching somebody else that way. 

"You can do that a little faster," he said, and when I started going faster, he rewarded me with a kiss, which was a little weird because he just had his mouth on my dick, but the kiss was too nice for me to care much about the taste.

When I started to get the rhythm right, he started back in with his hand on my dick, and we were both touching each other, which was way too awesome and hot. Oh fuck, how had I been missing out on all this shit? I couldn't believe I'd gone this long without having sex with anybody. 

Maybe it was because it was my first time, or because it was Angus being that close to me and smelling real nice and touching me like he was a pro at this – whatever it was, I didn't last long at all. Neither did Angus, either, and for a couple minutes it was just a lot of gasping and breathing and everything was kinda messy, but I had to say that it felt really good. _Really_ good. 

Angus put his forehead against mine and kinda huffed at me, smiling. "Let's get you cleaned up," he said, and as he pulled away, he added, "Are you hungry? I can make pizza or something." 

Was that it? Everything was done now and we were just going to have pizza and that was it? 

I didn't know what to say – _thank you_ or _are we dating now?_ – or really just anything aside from standing here gaping – but Angus handed me a wad of paper towels to clean my hands and my chest and everywhere else that was all messy. 

I looked down at the pile of clothes on the floor. "Pizza sounds good," I said finally. I wasn't in any hurry to leave and I hoped that he didn't want me to leave, either. I wanted to spend a lot more time with Angus if he'd let me.

*

Dad's car was in the driveway when I got home. I was surprised because I hadn't expected him to be home until sometime tomorrow morning. As I parked my truck, I hoped that I wouldn't get in trouble for being out so late on a school night; it was almost ten and I hadn't gotten any of my homework done or anything. Then I wondered if I'd be able to tell my dad that I was gay. I wanted him to know about me, but I wasn't sure that I'd be able to tell him right away. Steeling myself for whatever lecture was to come, I shut off the truck and went into the house.

I found Dad in the kitchen, eating leftover mac and cheese right out of the Tupperware container. "You're a little late getting home," he said mildly as he looked up at me. "You didn't have a game on a Monday, did you?" He knew it wasn't a football game that had kept me out late, but he asked anyway. I knew it was because he wanted to hear what my excuse would be.

Shrugging, I said, "We had practice after school, and then I had to drive a friend home. I ended up staying over at my friend's for a bit and we did homework and then we were watching a movie and I got caught up. I guess I probably should have left a note or something. Sorry, Dad." He didn't seem too upset, so I didn't get too defensive. I didn't want to make a big deal of this.

My phone chirped in my pocket, indicating a text message. I fished it out. 

_do you wanna go see that new Vin Diesel movie with me this weekend?_

It was from Angus, and holy shit I could not stop the stupid grin on my face. A movie was like a date, right? And a date almost meant like boyfriends, right?

"Well, don't you look excited!" commented Dad, smirking. "What was that about?" He raised his eyebrows at me, clearly trying not to laugh. 

"Can I go see a movie with a friend this weekend?" I asked him. _Please say yes, please say yes!_

Still smirking, Dad said, "Is this the friend whose house you just came from?"

I nodded, feeling my stomach knot up.

"Colt, you're old enough to be doing this kind of stuff, and I trust you. Go out with your friend and have fun." He patted me on the shoulder and then got serious for a minute. "I want you to know you can tell me anything, okay? I'm your dad and I want you to be able to trust me, too. Is there anything you want to tell me?"

And I could tell by the look on his face that he already knew – he knew why I'd said 'friend' and hadn't mentioned boy or girl. He knew why I was grinning like an idiot. He knew. 

For a long moment, I didn't know what to say. Even if Dad already knew – and how? I'd barely known myself until a couple weeks ago – it was still hard to get to the words out. "Maybe, um, maybe later, Dad," I said. "I just gotta think it over first, okay?" I let out a breath. 

"Take your time, buddy," he assured me. "But, ah, as far as your friend goes, make sure you're being safe, okay? If you need condoms or anything, let me know. You're a smart kid; I don't want you making any dumb mistakes." Then he winked at me. "Now you better head off to bed. You've got school tomorrow." 

I couldn't believe that Dad had just offered to buy condoms for me! I was too embarrassed to say anything, so I just high-tailed it back to my bedroom. Before I got into bed, though, I texted Angus back.

_A movie sounds good. I guess I'll be driving though, huh?_

Then I scrolled down a bit on my contacts list. Coach's brother had given me his cell number after that lunch meeting we'd had, but I hadn't really had any need for it – or, I hadn't known what to say. Now, though, the worlds were easy.

_Just wanted to say thank you for your advice. It really helped me out._

Then I put my phone on the charger and crawled into bed. As I drifted off to sleep, I found myself wondering what Dad would think if I introduced Angus to him as my boyfriend. Somehow I just knew that he and Angus would get along real well, and I had a feeling that no matter what, things would turn out to be all right.


End file.
